


Reunion on Ice

by Aicnerys



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Don’t copy to another site, M/M, figure skating AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 07:44:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19825630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aicnerys/pseuds/Aicnerys
Summary: Melkor and Mairon met at the ice rink, skating.Years later, they meet again.





	Reunion on Ice

**Author's Note:**

> So, I figure skate, and have been for a while, so I know I used terms that not-figure skaters don't know. So, I shall attempt to make this read easier with some explanations in this here author's note.
> 
> -Blades are neither flat nor shaped like knives. The bottom of the blade is curved upwards to form the hollow. On each side of the hollow are the edges, referred to as inside and outside based on whether they're on the inside side or outside side. They grip the ice.
> 
> \- A layback spin is an upright spin. As the name suggests, the skater leans back. The farther back the better. The free leg (the one not being stood on) is in an attitude position- the leg is raised and bent back, with the knee higher than the foot. It's hard for me to explain, but if you google attitude position ballet, you'll get a good idea of it.
> 
> \- A three turn is turning from forward to backward on one foot. They are specified depending on which direction you start the turn from (forward/backward) and the side of the blade your weight is on (inside/outside). So, in this fic, Mairon's forward inside three turn starts going forward, and he puts his weight on the inside edge. If you look at the tracing on the ice, it literally looks like a three.

Mairon and Melkor had met in an ice rink. They both were figure skaters, and their first meeting had been when they were both working on double jumps and their coach, because they had the same coach, told them that they needed to start going to conditioning so that they had the strength to actually do doubles.

They hit it off pretty well; beside skating, they had a lot in common. A shared love of horror stories and disgust for the carelessness that their coaches fostered in the high-leveled skaters gave them the platform to become friends, among other things. They were still in middle school at that time, going to different schools and a grade apart, but they saw each other every day, except Sunday when the rink was closed, skating. 

By highschool, Melkor had established that he was to be a competitive skater, and even told Mairon that it was motivated in part to spite his father by not taking over the family business. Mairon admitted that while he really did enjoy skating, his parents only really let him keep at it in highschool because it would look good on his college applications. It was also in highschool that Melkor developed a crush on Mairon. He never said anything; nothing ever came of it.

When it was time for college, Melkor stayed in their town. There was already a university in it, and he didn’t want to give up skating just yet. Mairon went to the other end of the country, seeking to escape stifling parents. The two kept in touch, but it wasn’t easy. Mairon became busy with doctoral studies; Melkor, after a screaming incident with his coaches after nearly being run over by the pairs team twice in a session when he had right of way, started coaching. They didn't have much time to be in touch, but they still tried. Melkor had visited Mairon a few times, and Mairon had visited Melkor a few times. But they slowly ran out of time and became busy with their own lives.

Several years later, when correspondence had drifted to the wayside and become scarcer than rain in a desert, Mairon called Melkor again.

  
  


~~~

  
  


It had been an interesting afternoon for Melkor. His oldest student, the first one, had decided to ignore physics and start jumping the direction she came from on not one, but two of her jumps, despite that going against all her speed and momentum that she had going into the jump. His next lesson was a skater visiting from another rink who wanted to argue about every correction Melkor made, always starting with “My coach said…”. It was enough to drive him insane. The last lesson of the day had been with a little one maybe four or five years old, and despite crying each fall, the little one was still less annoying than the visiting skater.

Melkor had gotten home around five. He wasn’t hungry yet, just tired, so he was now sprawled on the couch, listening to music and reading. 

He wasn’t expecting his phone to ring, and his initial thoughts were that it was some random scam caller. 

Melkor certainly was not expecting to see a call from Mairon. He hit accept.

“Hey.” Mairon said, sounding somewhat tired. “It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, it has been. How’ve you been?” Melkor asked.

“Well enough, I suppose.” Mairon said. “I’m actually moving back into town; just got in today, actually. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out.”

“Sure. I’m free tomorrow afternoon; all my then lessons cancelled.” Melkor told him.

“That reminds me! How are you students?” Mairon asked.

“My regulars?” Melkor said with a little laugh. “My skaters are just fine. Do you remember our old coach?”

“How could I not?” Mairon scoffed. “Rather memorable, our old coach.”

“So, he retired.” Melkor said. “And, get this, it’s because parents were upset with his favoritism. Said they felt like they were being kept on only for the money. Some of them moved, some of them went with me.”

“Sounds like you’re doing well then. I’m glad; you sound happy.” Mairon said.

“What’re you coming back for?” Melkor asked.

“Work. I’ve joined with Thurngwethil’s law firm.” Mairon replied. “We met at uni. She decided to come here because her fiance is here.”

“Her fiance? Is this the Thuringwethil who’s marrying Ilmare?” Melkor said, incredulous.

“That one.” Mairon said, cleary stifling a laugh. “Thuringwethil isn’t exactly a common name. Although, I am curious as to how you know of her.”

“You have obviously not heard about how she decked a guy for being a creep about there being two women together romantically.” Melkor told him. “It was glorious. They let her off because she gave an impassioned speech about how people should be free to be with their loved ones no matter where or who. Something about fighting words was the official line.”

“Oh god, that reminds me of Feanor. That Feanor. You know the one. He’s that crazy visual arts major, which, more power to him for going for what he wants, but he’s most recently threatened to fight me over something or the other, don’t know what, and his brothers had to hold him back.” Mairon said, having to stop a few times to compose himself due to fits of giggling. “And, most memorably, remember when you visited, and he flung open the door of his room and screamed that you were here to steal his precious art project?”

“How could I not?” Melkor said, laughing. “His brothers had to hold him back then too.”

“His poor brothers.” Mairon sighed in mock pity. “Anyway, afterwards, his poor girlfriend Nerdanel told him that unless he got his act together and went to a mental health professional, she would leave him because she couldn’t be his girlfriend and his impromptu therapist and a college student. So, Feanor’s in therapy now.”

“You’re kidding.” Melkor said.

“Am not.” Mairon replied. “The poor brothers apologized to me, told me he was seeing a doctor. He’s been calmer since. Well, calmer for Feanor.”

Just then, Melkor’s stomach chose to growl.

“Hey Mairon, I haven’t eaten dinner yet.” Melkor said. “So, I need to go. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” Mairon said easily. “I haven’t eaten yet either. Why not go out to eat together?”

“Sure.” Melkor said. “I’ll swing by your place and pick you up?”

“Alright, I’ll text you the address.” Mairon replied. “See you soon.”

“See you soon.” Melkor said. Then Mairon hung up. Melkor got Mairon’s text shortly after, with the address of Mairon’s apartment. Melkor grabbed his things and left, excited to see his old friend. 

  
  


~~~

  
  


Mairon’s new place was pretty close, actually. Melkor arrived and found his apartment without too many problems. He knocked on the door, and was greeted by Thuringwethil.

“Oh, you’re Melkor?” She asked, a mischievous glint in her eye. Melkor nodded. 

“Mairon! Your sweetheart’s here!” Thuringwethil called, turning her head back to the apartment.

“Thuri!” Mairon said, turning redder than his hair. “His is not!”

“That’s not how you talk about him though.” Thuringwethil said, glasses slipping down her nose. She pushed them up with one hand before continuing. “Why, the way you talk about it makes it seem as though your world revolves around him!”

“Please, Thuringwethil.” Mairon pleaded. “Drop it.”

“Okay, okay.” Thuringwethil sing-songed, not sounding contrite at all. “Sorry.”

Mairon turned to Melkor with an embarrassed, apologetic smile.

“Sorry about that; she’s like a sister to me.” Mairon said with a shrug. “That has pros and cons.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Melkor said as they walked to the car. “Gothmog has given me the same shit.”

“Of course he has.” Mairon scoffed. “So, what do you want to eat?”

“How about that Chinese place with the Sichuan fish soup?” Melkor asked.

“Oh, the street food place with the kebabs?” Mairon replied. “Or the one with peking duck?”

“The one with peking duck.” Melkor clarified.

“The one with peking duck sounds good.” Mairon said as they got into Melkor’s car. “It’s been a while since I’ve had that. Kinda miss it, to be honest.”

  
  


~~~

  
  


Dinner went well. The food was just as good as Mairon remembered. After they ate, they ended up sitting and chatting. Eventually, love lives came up.

“So, what’ve you been up to in the romance department?” Melkor asked. He was nervous asking because he still had a crush on Mairon, even after all these years.. Nevertheless, some part of him had to know.

“Nothing much.” Mairon said. “And you?”

“Same.” Melkor replied before awkwardly looking off to the side. Conversation had been wonderfully easy up to that point, but now they tapered off into silence. Mairon took a sip of water.

“I, ah, have a crush on someone I’ve known for a while, so that’s why…” Mairon muttered, looking down.

“Oh.” Melkor said. “Uh, me too.”

They sat in silence again. When the waiter walked over with the check, they split it.

“Do you still want to meet up tomorrow?” Melkor blurted out as they were leaving.

“Of course I do.” Mairon replied. “I didn’t mean to make things awkward. How about we go skating? See how many jumps I’ve lost.”

“You’ll be fine.” Melkor replied, immediately feeling less tense. “You have good technique and you didn’t quit completely.”

“Fair enough.” Mairon said easily.

The car ride back to Mairon’s apartment was full of nostalgic music and enthusiastic, horrible singing.

  
  


~~~

  
  


The next day, at the ice rink, Melkor was anxious. His heart was all aflutter and he really wanted Mairon to still show. He was already at the rink for morning lessons, which all went well. Despite his less than amicable split with his old coaches, they still had him work on skating skills and jumps with their students.

Exactly on time, Mairon arrived. Melkor was waiting for him at the front, still in his skates. The plan was to mess around for a bit on the fairly-empty afternoon freestyle session.

Mairon smiled and waved.

“How’s being back?” Melkor asked as they walked to the benches beside the ice. Mairon shrugged, setting down his bag and putting his long hair into a ponytail, which hung down by his face as he was bent down to tie his skates.

“It’s been two days. I have thirty missed calls from my family.” Mairon said calmly. “I expect to be able to ignore them for another month before I absolutely have to answer.”

Mairon had not parted amicably with his family. Neither had Melkor.

Mairon stood up, bending a little to test how tight he’d tied his skates.

“God, it’s been so long since I’ve been on the ice.” Mairon muttered. Melkor smiled.

“You’ll be fantastic.” Melkor reassured him. Mairon rolled his eyes and stepped on the ice, sliding his feet back and forth a little as he put his gloves on.

“I forgot how grippy blades are.” Mairon laughed, prompting Melkor to laugh with him.

“I know, right?” Melkor replied. “I’m gone for two days, come back, and then my blades feel sticky.”

Mairon, having quickly reaccustomed to skating after a few pushes, started to warm up.

Melkor did so as well, and they laughed and joked, and a few of the others skaters on the session were watching them. 

They began to warm up their jumps, going through doubles fairly easily. Melkor eventually found himself leaning against the boards and just watching.

“You gonna go for triples?” Melkor asked as Mairon skated over to him.

“Nah.” Mairon said. “Not today at least. Maybe another day.”

“Want to see me fail at layback?” Melkor asked.

“You have a nice layback spin!” Mairon said, incredulous. “Certainly better than mine. I haven’t done my in ages.”

“Bet.” Melkor replied defiantly. “Watch this.” 

He went and did his layback, which was really more of an attitude spin because he barely actually did the layback part of the spin.

“My turn now.” Mairon said quite seriously as Melkor returned to the boards, and started setting up his spin. Melkor preferred to enter his layback from backward crossovers, whereas Mairon generally preferred a forward inside three-turn. It was infinitely better than Melkor’s, having nice position, good speed, and many rotations.

“You were right, actually.” Mairon said as he returned.

They messed around for another fifteen minutes before getting off.

  
  


~~~

  
  


As they were walking out, Mairon was talking about how busy he would be. It was understandable, being a lawyer was not simple, easy work, nor was it short and sweet. Melkor wanted to confess, and he was struck with the fear that if he didn’t say anything now, he wouldn’t say anything ever.

“Mairon, I know this is tactless, but I want to be more than friends.” Melkor blurted out.

Mairon stopped, stared, and blinked.

“Come again?” He said.

Melkor felt his cheeks burning, and he fiddled nervously with his car keys.

“I want to go out on a date with you.” Melkor said. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it was a relieved sigh and a kiss on the cheek.

“Me too.” Mairon said, taking advantage of Melkor’s surprise to get to his car.

“When?” Melkor asked.

“I’ll text you.” Mairon said easily, seeming positively giddy, before starting his car and driving back home. Melkor took a moment to press his hand to his cheek where Mairon kissed him before he went home too.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this, and if I missed a skating term in there or aspects of skating went unexplained, don't hesitate to ask me.


End file.
